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Tragedy of the Commons
An act with self-interest which overexploits and depletes shared resources
Externalities
Negative costs associated with human actions, that aren’t accounted for in the price
Effects of clear cutting
Increases soil erosion, evaporation of water in soil, nitrates in streams, and amount of soil in the atmosphere. Impacts biodiversity more than selective cutting
Negative effects of tree plantations
Lowers biodiversity and all the same age
General forest benefits
Filtering of air pollutants, removal and storage of CO2 from the atmosphere, habitat for organisms
Deforestation consequences
Reduces air filtering and releases CO2
Slash and burn
Method of clearing land for agriculture by cutting trees and burning them
Furrow irrigation
Trench dug along crops and filled with water, 66% efficient
Drip irrigation
Holes is hose allow water to slowly drip out, 95% effective
Flood irrigation
Flooding entire field, 10% efficient
Spray irrigation
Surface water sprayed through pipes, 90% efficient
Soil salinization
The process of salt building up in soil over time
What does the depletion of aquifers cause
Saltwater intrusion, cone of depression
Green Revolution
A shift in agriculture away from small family operated farms to large industrial scale agribusiness
Monocropping
Growing one single species of crop
Tiling
Mixing and breaking up of soil to make planting easier
Pesticides
Chemicals that are toxic to pests, can cause pests to become resistant
GMOs in crops
Grow for pest resistant trait that is added through genetic modification
CAFO
Concentrated animal feeding operation
Manure lagoons
Large, open storage pits for animal waste
Overgrazing
Too many animals grazing an area of land removes all vegetation
Fishery
Populations of fish for commercial fishing
Fishery collapse
Collapse when overfishing causes 90% population die off, population may never recover
Bottom trawling
Dragging a large net along ocean floor, catches unintended targets and destroys reefs
Ore
Commercially valuable deposits of concentrated minerals that can be harvested and used as raw materials
Metals
Elements that have reduced electricity, heat, and have structural proportions for building
Reserve
The known amount of a resource left that can be mined
Overburden
Soil, vegetation, and rocks that are removed to get to a deposit below
Tailings and slag
Leftover waste material separated from the valuable metal of ore
Surface mining
Mining closer to the surface of the earth, open pit, becoming more scarce
Subsurface mining
More expensive due to higher insurance and health care for workers
Note 
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